(Inspired by the DFID Booklet)
by Louise Sutherland
Advocacy is being a voice for those whose voice is not being heard – often that’s poor people, but it can equally be animals, places or situations. It seems to me, that within Druidry, advocacy is a central part of the Bardic craft. Learning about an issue, hearing the songs of those involved and telling those stories to others in a way which shares truth, inspires action and change - isn’t that what a bard does? Many of the most inspiring songs and poems give voice to those who weren’t being heard, enable us to understand and open to what we previously ignored or weren’t aware of. Such songs might not be pretty, or easy to listen to, but they are powerfully inspiring and very necessary.
Worldwide there are so many people and places which need people to speak on their behalf, to research, lobby, campaign and write letters to the press. Advocacy is priceless – its about refusing to forget that so many people in the world live lives that could be so much better. We all have a responsibility to bring that change about. Changing awareness changes attitudes, the attitude of a society and its values, are reflected in its policies and politicians – and it is these which create the structures which reinforce or prevent poverty.
Advocacy is about more than raising awareness; it is also directly engaging with the political process, going eyeball to eyeball with the political decision makers who represent the views of people who will never get to meet them. Advocacy is using our voice as part of the democratic process to let those in powerful positions know what we think. They cannot read our minds, our conversations bitching about the state of the world achieve nothing – use that energy to really do something! We can all use the rights and freedoms we have to represent those who do not have those rights. Having a voice, and knowing what to say, is a form of power, and in turn it will foster circumstances where the poor will be heard in their own right.
Advocacy can be…
- Signing an email petition sent by an aid agency.
- Campaigning for the rights of poor people – sending regular post cards to politicians, writing letters to business leaders, joining a demonstration
- Being an Activist – working with a group to solve the issue you care about – campaigning in your local community, getting stories into the press, writing to board members of the companies involved etc.
- Research
The campaign in the 1990s to cancel debts was opposed by those who said it would it be throwing good money after bad. Research by advocacy organisations proved debt cancelling could help end poverty by supporting infrastructure. The Uganda Debt Network’s research showed that money could be ring fenced to ensure it was spent on priorities such as schools and hospitals, as it had been in Uganda. When the international community was eventually convinced that debt cancellation could help end poverty, the models the researchers had found in Uganda were cited as best practise.
In recent years activists have had a many successes getting huge corporations to change policy. British campaigners successfully persuaded UK companies to take responsibility for the treatment of workers who make the goods they sell. For example Oxfam’s Clean Clothes Campaign asked consumers to raise concerns with the UK’s top clothing retailers. Subsequently all five developed ethical trading policies. Brand is all to todays companies and they are highly sensitive to their reputation. It takes time, effort and courage but manufacturers will respond to negative publicity.
Does lobbying really work?
Yes! When the chief executive of Nestle decided to sue Ethiopia for an unpaid debt of $6 million, he was perfectly within his legal rights. However, when Oxfam heard about the plan, the outrage inspired action. First a fax went to the company HQ. Then Oxfam supporters held a demonstration outside its UK headquarters. Then an E-campaign pointed out that $6 million could provide clean water for four million people and the country was again facing famine, also that $6 million was just 0.0007 percent of Nestlé’s turnover and in Ethiopia it could buy food for one million people. The CEO’s inbox was jammed with 40,000 emails. Within weeks the company announced that it would only claim $1.5 million and it would immediately donate this back to Ethiopia to help relieve hunger.
Governments may be distant and seem unresponsive but sustained, well planned and targeted pressure does work. In 2004 advocates in the UK began a sustained lobby - arguing that the UK aid budget should be more in line with the UN’s agreed aid target of 0.7% of gross national income. Six months later, the UK announced it would be increasing its international development budget by 9% per annum – putting it in line to spend 0.7% of gross national income by 2013.
Since the advent of the web communication has changed, e-campaigning has become common. The email revolution has its downside – loads of email rubbish, but it has made campaigning fast, direct and cheap. Politicians and company directors can be directly contacted by advocates who want to change society. The web also bring people and information together, enabling them to campaign more easily. For example, when Italian supporters of the Drop the Debt campaign targeted politicians before the G8, the email deluge crashed the governments computer system. It may not have been the intended effect but it certainly made the politicians listen.
As e-campaigning has evolved, activists now know that quality beats quantity. A small number of personalised communications to elected officials is more effective than a truckload of identical emails. Advocacy online (www.advocacyonline.net) helps connect people to local politicians and compose a personal letter.
The web also has the advantage of getting information which may not make it into the national press. Look at www.oneworld.net or www.panos.org.uk or the international charities websites for whats going on around the world.
